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Thanksgiving is almost here! The time of the year to offer thanks and enjoy the three F’s – family, football and feasts! And when we talk about Thanksgiving feasts, everyone knows what the main course will be – the good old turkey.
Most Americans will probably have turkey on the table and a lot of other meat, off the grill or the oven. Many of us carefully pick the meat that we’ll be having during the holidays when we actually should be choosing the right type of meat we’ll be consuming all year round.
I personally eat a lot of meat and love having barbecues with my family and friends. I used to just eat meat without really knowing its effects on my health. I ate pork, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb – whatever was available. I didn’t know the difference between white and red meat until a friend and fellow meat lover kindly gave me a “Meat 101” course during one of his barbecue parties.
Simply speaking, red meats (beef, mutton, bison, pork, chicken drumsticks and thighs) are darker than white meats (chicken breast, turkey, most fish) because the muscles are used more. They have more myoglobin proteins, which help transport oxygen to your muscles.
When red meat is cooked, the myoglobins are converted into metmyoglobins, which are very rich in iron.
On the other hand, white meat contains glycogen, an animal starch and polysaccharide of glucose. Animal starch is stored in the liver and broken down into glucose when it’s needed by the white muscle.
Red meat contains more zinc, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, vitamins B6 and B12, amino acids, iron, and more saturated fats (including Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats) than white meat.
The USDA grades red meat based on marbling (the fat between the muscle tissue). For example, Kobe Beef has 20 – 25% fat content while USDA Standard Beef contains below 3% fat.
Some people love red meat; others hate it. Red meat has been wrongly vilified because of its high saturated fat content but I found out that saturated fat is not as unhealthy as it is portrayed to be.
The way most meat is raised today makes it absolutely necessary for us to know where the meat we buy comes from. Buying meat from a local farmer who will sell you organic, cage-free, chicken and turkey, and grass-fed beef is a good choice.
The quest for meat that’s truly healthy gets trickier because you also have to consider if the meat you buy is free from antibiotics, growth hormones and if the grass or feeds they have fed on is pesticide-free.
Let me end by sharing this sound piece of advice from Dr. Mercola:
Don’t fall for all the hype that white meat is always better than dark. Instead, simply choose the variety that you crave. As long as the meat is from a healthy source, and you listen to your body, you can’t go wrong.
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